Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 228] a prominent citizen of Mahoningtown, and the leading tinsmith of the borough, was born in the city of New Castle, Dec. 9, 1859, and is a son of William S. and Katharine (Floor) Locke. William S. Locke was a son of William H. Locke, one of the first settlers of the county, and a miller by trade: he lived to be sixty-four years of age. Our subject's father was born in New Castle, June 16, 1828, and died June 15, 1888; when thirteen years old, he learned the tinsmith's trade at New Lisbon, Ohio, and from there in 1867 went to Pittsburg, working as a tin and coppersmith two years. From that city in October, 1869, he moved to New Wilmington, where he resided the rest of his life. From 1873 to 1881 he was proprietor and manager of the Central Hotel. In politics, he was a firm Republican, and socially he was a member of the I. O. O. F. He and his wife were members of the M. E. Church. She was born in Petersburg, Ohio, and was a daughter of John and Margaret Floor; John Floor, a tanner by trade, lived to be about eighty years of age. There were born to our subject's parents three children, who were as follows: Mary Emma, the wife of E. B. Hunter of Franklin, Va,.; William H.; and Annie Margaret, who died at the age of eleven.
William H. was ten years of age when the family left New Castle, and moved to New Wilmington; his education was secured in the public schools of New Castle and in New Wilmington. When nineteen years old, he learned the tinner's trade in his father's shop at New Wilmington, and in the spring of 1881 went into business for himself in that borough, and successfully conducted it until he disposed of it at a good figure in 1889; after the sale was completed, he worked for his successor. In 1891, he came to Mahoningtown, and opened up a tin-shop on Cherry Street, where he now has a well-established trade of large and constantly increasing dimensions; the business is becoming more valuable every day, and bringing to the proprietor the reward of well-directed and energetic toil.
He was joined in the bonds of matrimony in New Wilmington, April 14, 1881, to Isabella D. Beveridge, who was born near Edinburg, Scotland, a daughter of Robert and Ann (Henderson) Beveridge. Robert Beveridge in Scotland before coming to this country was interested in mines, and after becoming a resident and citizen of Pennsylvania was interested in the mines of Mercer County. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Locke: John S.; George W. deceased; and Clara I. The family are members and regular attendants of the M. E. Church of Mahoningtown. Mr. Locke is a member of the New Wilmington Lodge, I. O. O. F.; Amazon Lodge, Knights of Pythias, No. 336, of Mahoningtown; and Excelsior Lodge, No. 121, Protected Home Circle of Mahoningtown. Both in New Wilmington and Mahoningtown Mr. Locke has taken an intelligent and active interest in local matters of interest, and has stood high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens as a man of excellent judgment and progressive ideas. In New Wilmington he served in the borough council, of which he was secretary; in Mahoningtown he has served efficiently to the general satisfaction of men of all classes as a member of the school board.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 13 May 2001